Sunday, September 30, 2012

Aside
from working as a well-known artist and art teacher at MountMichael, Fr. Daniel Lenz spent a month
of his 2011 summer in Israel
working on various artistic projects and learning about Israeli culture. Lenz
spent his time well in Israel;
he created multiple remarkable works of art and helped the Arab, Christian, and
Muslim community he lived with in the village
of I'billin, Israel.

Lenz's
first project was to assist in the completion of a massive 15-foot Pantocrator
icon of Jesus, which took two weeks to finish. Pantocrator, which is Greek for
"ruler of all", is the image of Jesus holding the Bible in his left
hand and giving a blessing with his right hand.

After
completing the icon, Lenz was granted permission from the Archbishop of
Galilee, Elias Chacour, to begin stone work on a St. Michael the Archangel icon
with 'Peace' engraved in English, Arabic, and Hebrew on a slab of limestone
from Rama, Israel. This was a very hard type of limestone.

Finally,
he created a large banner with the icon of Mary and Jesus on it, which was the
last art piece on his list in I'billin. The banner was to be used for an Arab
Catholic youth rally called the Hallelujah Festival in July.

Besides
completing his line of art projects for the community, Lenz helped the village
school security every morning and assisted in traffic control, allowing the
students to get to their school safely. He also had the opportunity to
participate in and learn about the religious traditions and heritage of the
local Arabic people. "I had a number of house blessings and visits with
people who had need of a priest. I also learned how to pray in Arabic with the
people," said Lenz.

He also
made a short trip to the Holy Land, Jerusalem,
with a large group of Arabic-speaking Catholics, both Latin and Byzantine.
"We all had mass at the Franciscan monastery on the Mount of Zion."
He was also able to receive special permission to pray in the CenacleChurch
where the Last Supper and descent of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost took place.
"It was a wonderful experience to pray with the Christians in the Holy Land at the place of Pentecost," said Lenz.
He was able to celebrate mass at the Basilica of the Annunciation in Nazareth where the Holy family lived and St. Joseph worked.

Lenz also
enjoyed being around and socializing with the people while there. "The
people I encountered were very hospitable and loving. In the village I lived in,
the Christians, Muslims and Jews got along and really had respect for each
other," said Lenz. He thought the food in I'billin was wonderful and he
also enjoyed learning about the Holy Land while he stayed in Haifa.

Although
Lenz's trip to Israel
was relatively short, he relished every moment of his stay and is looking
forward to other excursions in the future.- Michael Budler '13More Photos

Friday, September 28, 2012

The feast of St. Michael and the Archangels is always an important
celebration at Mount Michael Benedictine. This year we were blessed with
the presence of Archbishop George Lucas presiding at the Eucharist.
The occasion was doubly blessed by the Archbishop blessing students as
Eucharistic ministers. Usually the ceremony is held at the Cathedral but
due to conflicts of schedule for the students the ceremony was moved to
this occasion. Mount Michael’s new Eucharistic ministers are Thomas
Kalil, Josh Policky, Vinny Harvey, Chris Beirman , Charlie Jarosik, JT
Cronin, and Jake Recker. More Photos

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

With the start of a new school year comes change. Some of this change
includes an entirely new science department. Dr. Randy Crnkovich, in
his first year of teaching, is also joined by chemistry teacher Leah
Zohner and physics teacher David Primavera. Aside from being head of the
department, Crnkovich is teaching four freshman Biology classes, and
two senior classes, Anatomy and Physiology and A.P. Biology. Even though
he has always wanted to teach, this is Crnkovich’s first year as a
teacher.

After
attending Creighton University, where he received a degree in Biology,
Crnkovich was faced with a tough decision: pursue a career as a
veterinarian or become a teacher straight out of college. After much
deliberation, he decided to become a vet but with the idea that he would
teach sometime in the future. Crnkovich finished veterinary school at
Kansas State University where he received his Doctor of Veterinary
Medicine (DVM) degree.

It’s not hard to find work as a vet, and Crnkovich had plenty. Aside
from making house calls to individual clients, he would also work at
other veterinary clinics when they needed extra help. He also worked as a
drug rep on the side, selling major prescription drugs to hospitals in
the Omaha area. One dream he never realized was to open his own
veterinary clinic. “I always wanted to be able to run my own clinic, but
if I did, it would take away from the time I spent with my family,”
said Crnkovich. As a father of four children, one of whom, junior
Jarrett Crnkovich, is currently a student at Mount Michael. So it was
hard for Dr. Crnkovich to devote the long hours needed to run a clinic.

After 18 years as a vet, Crnkovich decided it was time to go back to
school and get a teaching degree. “I just got to that point in my life
where I wanted to go back to school and get my degree so that I could
teach,” said Crnkovich. After receiving his teaching degree from the
University of Nebraska at Lincoln, his dream job, teaching science at
Mount Michael, was open. “Before I even became a teacher I really liked
Mount Michael,” said Crnkovich, “I always saw myself teaching here and
if I had not got the job here, I probably would not have started
teaching right away.” With the school year in full swing, Crnkovich
doesn’t see himself changing anything except for maybe coaching sports
in a few years. “I am really happy here and I hope to be able to stay
teaching here for as long as I can,” said Crnkovich.

Every year Mount Michael strives to reach out to the international
community and joyfully embraces new students. This year Mount Michael
has enrolled twenty-six international students; among these students,
eleven are new to the Mount Michael community. One of the new additions
to Mount Michael is junior Diego Buerreta Ochoa.

Ochoa
is from Culiacan, Mexico. Culiacan is in northwestern Mexico, the
largest city in the state of Sinaloa as well as its capital. Ochoa’s
search for a new school started when he and his family started looking
for high ranking high schools in the United States with aprestigious
curriculum. Mount Michael was a great fit and attracted Ochoa because he
was looking for a new experience and a good opportunity to improve his
English. He is happy to be at Mount Michael and is glad to have joined
the community.

Although Ochoa enjoys being at Mount Michael he misses some aspects
of his hometown. Some of the differences between Mexico and Mount
Michael include the language, the culture, the food, and the school
schedule. He says that although the food here is great, it is no where
near as good as the Mexican food he enjoys at home.

The school schedule also varies in Mexico. Ochoa’s school day in
Mexico consisted of five classes, each an hour and a half long. Another
difference between schooling in Mexico and Mount Michael is that Ochoa
did not have lunches, but instead had two breaks a day to do whatever he
wanted. Although some of the differences may be difficult, Ochoa says
that he loves the classes, especially Physics, Literature, and
Pre-Calculus.

Ochoa is also an avid fan of basketball. He loves the Lakers and he
hopes they will win the NBA Championship this year. As a fan of the
Lakers, Ochoa naturally does not like certain teams like the Miami Heat.
“I hate Chris Bosh, he’s so bad. The Lakers are going to win this
season, that’s for sure,” said Ochoa. He also plays basketball and
spends about three hours a day in the gym getting ready for the
basketball season.

Mount Michael is starting to feel like home for Ochoa. “So far it has
been one of the best experiences in my life. I like everything so far
about Mount Michael including the classes, sports, and how the students
and teachers treat the international students. It’s been really cool
thus far.”

Monday, September 10, 2012

Friday, September 7, 2012

Elkhorn,
Nebraska, September 7, 2012 - Mount Michael Benedictine High School has
been selected as one of 269 recipients of the 2012 National Blue Ribbon
School award. The U.S. Department of Education will honor approximately
219 public and 50 private schools at a recognition ceremony on November
12-13, 2012 in Washington, D.C. The award highlights outstanding
models of American schools and school leadership. Since the inception of
the program less than 4% of the eligible schools in the United States
have been selected for this honor. Mount Michael Benedictine proudly
marks this as the first time applying for as well as receiving this
exemplary award.

The National Blue Ribbon Schools Program recognizes public and
non-public elementary, middle, and high schools where students achieve
at very high levels or where significant improvements are being made in
students’ levels of achievement. The Program sets a standard of
excellence for all schools striving for the highest level of
achievement. The National Blue Ribbon Schools Program is part of a
larger U.S. Department of Education effort to identify and disseminate
knowledge about best school leadership and teaching practices.

The
program recognizes schools in one of two performance categories:
“Exemplary High Performing” and “Exemplary Improving.” The “Exemplary
High Performing” category recognizes schools that are among their
state’s highest performing schools, as measured by state assessments or
nationally-normed tests. Mount Michael Benedictine had to submit
standardized testing data that went back five years. Since over 90% of
our students take the ACT exam, these scores were used. In Reading the
ACT cut score for the Blue Ribbon recognition was 24.3 (denoting a
school to be in the top 15% of the nation); Mount Michael’s score was
27.1. In Mathematics the cut score was 24.3 (also denoting a school to
be in the top 15% of the nation): Mount Michael’s score was 27.9. More Photos